DVD Watch: Blood Diamond

Based on the trailers for Blood Diamond, I formed the opinion that it would probably be a cheesy action movie set in Africa with some kind of diamond that you probably wouldn't see until the end of the movie anyway.

As its Oscar buzz proves, that's not the case.

Sure, it has some decent action scenes - but the movie is more comparable to Hotel Rwanda than it is say, The Rock. The atrocities of civil war are brought out in full Technicolor. It lacks the pure social critique of Rwanda - but it doesn't miss that mark by much.

There's also some weird bits that felt almost edited in just to pull at your strings. Trying not to be a spoilerific, so I can't be specific - but especially towards the end the movie feels a bit overly dramatic. That doesn't really take away from the rest, though, and the ride is generally a good one. Heavy, but good.